faentasy | GRAVEYARD PT. II

GRAVEYARD

The world is black. And then you blink at your plate.

A portion of your favorite dish greets your eyes, albeit in a form you may never have seen it in before. Encased in a thick, wobbling layer of multi-colored gelatin, the food you know and love now sits suspended in its protein-based enclosure as an eccentric re-imagining of the dish. Furthermore, it only takes a glance to see that the rest of the dining table's spread shares this same theme, as every single dish, sweet or savory, finds itself victim to a jiggling Jell-o jail.

Still, you won't have much time to take this all in before a quiet, high-pitched giggling makes its way to your ears, only crescendoing in volume the longer you sit in this oh-so-familiar dining room. It doesn't take much to find the source of the sound either; unlike the other side, this place is absolutely teeming with fairies to the point where the fluttering of their iridescent wings is clearly audible behind the din of their laughter. As you come to your senses, dozens and dozens of beady eyes watch with their tiny faces stretched out in a wide grin, before speaking in unison.

"Welcome, we can't wait to serve you!"

As the fairies erupt in raucous laughter all around you, at least one more thing is readily apparent: however you met your end, your body is completely whole again. You also have company at the table with you, although whether it's desirable company or not may depend on the circumstances surrounding your death.

In any case, there's nothing stopping anyone from leaving the dining room and roaming freely as usual, and most of the same areas that were available to you on the other side are still present here, albeit with some differences. And though your life may have been stolen from you, it still looks like you have a part in this tale, somehow, someway.

So, will you let your story finish here, or will you write your own ending?

[Welcome to the Graveyard! This is part 2 of the GY post for Weeks 6 and 7. The previous post for Weeks 2-5 is linked above. Please also view the GY doc linked above for a full rundown of the basics. You may also still submit for items and gacha rolls using the GY shop post.]

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[The briefest laugh once they both get lined up.]

An excellent match.

[In various ways? Jack will move around and double check the health and temperament of the horses -- you never know, but these ones don't seem given to skittishness. They have probably seen a lot, especially down here. Then he sets to getting everything ready, blankets and saddles and bridles and all

It's quite the process, and presumably he would have had stable hands back home, but he moves through it with both practiced and absentminded ease. Finds time to continue the conversation, even.]

We'll circle the paddocks a time or two before making for the woods; you'll need to learn to handle the reins. These should be as well-trained as those on the other side... Ah, yes. You wouldn't know how to mount or dismount yet.

I suggest you watch closely, then.

[One foot in the stirrup, hands on the saddle -- he vaults up lightly, with seemingly no effort. A nod at Suga to try in his turn; it's a bit more gymnastics than one might expect, but at least the horses don't seem like they'd mind a bit of tugging and yanking from a novice.]

[Foot in the stirrup, hands on the saddle. He has the strength to pull himself up, at least - thank all those years of mining - although he does wobble a little before he gets his balance again.]

Very good!

[His expression says: slightly less noodle than expected, but perhaps they both know that by now? Not quite enough to pull off all that he'd been speculated to pull off on the other side, still, but Suga gets an approving nod for his ability not to immediately slide off the horse on this side. That sure is the important part.]

It may be difficult to write while you're beginning to ride, but you may just follow me. Keep your feet in the stirrups, and a hand on the reins. I think you know this already, but there is no need to yank.

You will be guiding with feet and reins, like so.

[Just going to start directing his horse over towards the fields with a quick kick and a slight tug of the reins; they're not liable to get above a walk unless there's really some shenaniganry going on with the rider's directions, at least.

Maybe Suga will get good enough to write on horseback soon?]

[He's not in any hurry to try writing. It's enough to try to mimic the way Jack steers his horse, lightly tugging at the reins.

If anything, he's liable to err on the side of too gentle.]

Ah. Well, you may need to be a little more assertive than that.

[Given the horse might start getting confused by wishy-washy reining, at some point.]

The horse is very sensitive to direction, but it is quite a large animal! You must show it who is in charge, to some extent; a good lesson to learn, because if they are not docile like these ones, they may get it into their head to run away with their rider. That, and we still have fairies getting into mischief 'round these parts.

For the moment, though -- one more round, I think. Shall we increase the pace?

[Suga will need to both firm his hand on the reins and give his horse a good hard kick with his heels to have any hope of moving up to a trot, but hopefully he's ready for the amount of bouncing he's about to experience?? Might as well get him ready in case the horse does get spooked by a fairy or something.]

[O-okay! Suga kicks the horse in the side, mentally apologizing to it as he does so. He clearly does not have the character to be good at horseback riding.]

[The thing about horseback riding is, not only is the horse several hundreds to a couple thousand pounds heavier than its diminutive rider (so really, they are both noodles to these guys); the way stirrups are set up means it's really quite difficult to get the leverage to do any real kicking or thumping.

On the bright side, that means Suga doing his best at least gets the horse to pay attention -- so it moves patiently faster. Jack laughs a little, standing up a bit in the saddle, and flicks the reins out towards the exterior of their little horse riding enclosure.]

All right, that'll do. Now we can head for the woods!

Oh, before I forget -- at this or faster paces, standing a little in the saddle may save your tailbone, you know. Do your best, yes?

[RIP butt and thigh muscles tomorrow, but that's a problem for future Suga. Present Suga may want to get both his and his horse's behinds in gear, because Jack is waiting only a little bit before vanishing into the woods here.]

[Hey! Come back, he's still learning! Where are you going??

Faster they go into the woods, then, with Suga dutifully standing up a bit. He'll be hella sore later but it probably will be less painful than the murder so it's fine? It's fine.]

[There's nothing like learning on the road! Eventually you need to get off the training lead and move out of the training paddock, yes? That appears to be Jack's priorities here, anyway -- he slows his horse once they're closer to the woods, tugging back on the reins a little to wait for Suga to pull up alongside.]

From here, all you really need do is watch for hazards in the road that may trip up your horse.

Ah, and prevent them from browsing, if you'd like to make any progress, actually.

[Some horses are nice and don't stop every few feet to munch on the landscape, but that assumes the rider is paying attention!]

[His horse stopping to munch lets him at least take a moment to write one-handed.]

I feel bad stopping them from eating if they're hungry

[Jack doesn't mind stopping off at the side of the trail a bit, though he keeps his own horse's head up -- it still manages to sneak a few bites of foliage, but it's likely a sight better than letting it get caught in all the scrub and brush.]

Ha-ha, you haven't raised a pet or livestock before, have you?

[Suga really doesn't seem the farming type, and museums aren't known for their petting zoos, so really.]

These fellows will continue to eat even if they're well-fed; and you can tell by their sturdiness that they are at least -- the fairies are not stingy with their offerings. [or at least this is before they find out everything is void and the fairies are spiders, alas] But just as you would train a dog not to climb onto the dinner table, so you must train a horse to eat principally when it is not being ridden.

They will always want to try, of course. But see that you have a firm hand on it.

[Don't let the horse ride you!!]

[Suga shakes his head at the question. No, no pets.

He's still kind of reluctant, but he tugs on the horse's reins again. No snacking, please.]

GRAVEYARD PT. II

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